243/ 6mm remington

[they call me trinity]

this is my first post.
I'm interested in building a range/deer rifle that is tight at 400 yards and has an excellent mpbr and has comfortable recoil, and lastly can be reloaded economically= more shooting. Deer are small in my area. It would seem that 243 and 6mm Remington are the answer, however im concerned with the barrel life.
A what are the pros and cons of one caliber over the other
B should I consider another caliber altogether, with better barrel life.
C does a lower grainage bullet result in higher throat erosion and such or is that merelly a factor of grainage in relation to small neck diameter.
Thanks guys.

 

[Steve Blair]

Neither the .243 or 6mm are known for barrel life. I have three 6mm rifles and love the cartridge but do not brag about barrel life. A 6.5mm cartridge of the same general capacity would be a good choice. Something like a 6.5X47 Lapua or .260 Remington.

 

[fullersson]

I'm a .243win fan myself but that's just because I've shot one for so long that I'm very familiar with them. I can't say the pros and cons because I know nothing about the 6mm. I can tell you the barrel life for the .243win is between 800-1200 rounds depending on how hot your loads are and how well you maintain the barrel. There's a difference of opinion on which cause more throat erosion the lighter or heavier bullets, but no matter which weight bullet makes it worse the main cause of throat erosion in the .243win is the powder charge vs. the throat diameter. A well built .243win can consistently give you 2" groups at 400 yards without much load development. So as far as deer hunting accuracy goes you would be good there. I've never hunted much with the .243win but I've got friends that do and they seem to do very well with them. Brian Brown.

 

[RJinTexas]

The 6mm Rem gets my vote, it will out perform the .243 Win. The 6mm case allows a slight increase in powder over the 243 and addition longer neck allows you to shoot both the shorter varmint bullets as well as hunting bullets. I'd suggest a 26" barrel with a 1 in 9.25 twist rate to get the most out of the cartridge but 24" will work if your going to be carring the rifle. But if your not into reloading you'd be better off building a .243 Win.

RJ

 

[CJ6]

Either the 243 or the 6mmRem will work (I'm partial to the 6mm) . For deer @ 400 I'd use 95-105 gr bullets. You'd be better off BBLwear/Energy wise to look at the 6.5 Creedmoore/6.5x47 L/260 Rem, about the same (or less) case capacity as the 243 with a larger dia bullet helping with the BBL wear aspect. Recoil wise the 6.5's mentioned using 120-130 class bullets (all you need)would be negligible over the 6mm/243, and the accuracy is there to boot.

 

[they call me trinity]

good advice guys. I like the looks of the 260 remington.
The main two reasons I liked the 6mmrem/243 was the low recoil and the excellent mpbr for It would segonistem that good mpbr/fps and barrel life are antagonist.
is there a caliber that achieves both
Perhaps a light, 90 grainage rem260
What is the recorded barrel life on rem 260

 

[savageboy]

Would you consider fire forming? If so, I am partial to the .260AI. You get 6.5x284 performance w/ 4-5 gr. less powder potentially increasing your barrel life. Fireforming loads can be very accurate (They are in my .260AI and 6brx). I have done fire forming w/ pistol powder, corn meal and a dab of of Crisco to hold it all together.
If so, I get 2935- 2945fps w a 26" bbl. The high bc 6.5mm projectiles- like A max, Berger 140 VLD hunting, etc work great. If you run the numbers on "Point blank" or another ballistics program, you would have to use like a 200gr. ish bullet in a 300 Win mag. to get the same performance down range. Deer are thin skinned animals so they are easy to kill as you prob. know. A 6.5mm A max/ etc. is deadly and works great on them w/ hardly any recoil, etc.

 

[bowfisher]

I would make a deer rifle in 6mm or 6mmAI and forget about barrel life. There is no free lunch. For example, my yote gun is a 17Rem. I don't plink with it, I don't take it to shoot PD's, I shoot a few rounds to get re-acquainted with it in the fall and depending on the year, never fire more than 50 rounds. It will last a lifetime !

Build what you want and just shoot deer with it. 50 rounds per year, it will out last you! Get something slower to punch paper with if you need to...jmo..

 

[fullersson]

I'm not sure about the recorded barrel life of the .260 but I'll try to explain how the barrel burnout thing works. The .243, .260, .308 all use the same case. The .243 is a .308 necked down to 6mm. The .260 is a .308 necked down to 6.5mm. The .308 barrel life is somewhere near 3000-3500. The .243 barrel life is 800-1200. The .260 should be in the area of 1900-2400. The barrel burners will have a small neck diameter compared to a large case capacity. For example look at the 6br and the 30br. The 6br has great barrel life (2500) but compared to the 30br (6500+) it doesn't hold a candle. Hope this helps. Brian Brown.

 

[WyleWD]

Trinity, you probably will not be disappointed going with the 243, 6mm, or the 260. Each has their merits. fullerson did a good job explaining how the barrel life thing works relatively, and bowfisher has some good thoughts too IMHO regarding all this. If only all choices in life were this easy huh. ;D

I started out with the 243 back in the mid 70's and found over the years that with that rifle, a 10twist barrel, and a well tuned trigger and 85gr Sierra HPBT bullets and when you leave to go hunting, you're set for anything from 'chucks, fox, yotes, deer, or even wild hogs. That bullet is still the best bullet I've used on deer or hogs from any caliber. DRT period with responsible shot placement. Either of the other two would be just fine too I'm sure.

I might also suggest, since you're wanting to "build" get a Lilja or other good quality stainless barrel in 1-10 twist 24-26" finished with a dull gray exterior and go have yourself a good time. I wouldn't go the fireforming route though... just me thinking there. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. WD

 

[expiper]

Hi Trinity......listen to ole' WD and what he is sayin....there is nobody out there with more good shootin 6mm/243's than him.....select a good bullet/powder charge and stick with it....the biggest thing is lots of trigger time....get familiar with it at long range and with confidence it will serve you well....no need to complicate with fire form/AI etc....ooo yea they are a lil faster/better/cuter/ but leave that for another time and place....Roger

 

[they call me trinity]

hey guys thanks for all the help.
I should address a few things I faild to mention before.
Im 22 years old, im consolidated/liquidating a few guns and gear to fund this build, and my job with my college has limited hours,
so the budget on this build before a scope Is about 1300 hundred dollars, thus barrel life is an important concern.
the only aspect of the job that Im not going to do myself is blueprinting the action.
based upon your input, i should slightly modify my expectations.
This will be the first bolt action that I have personally owned, not borrwoed for an extended period, I plan to become married with it and put a lot of ammo through it, I have access to a reloeading bench any time I want.
So I need an accurate rifle that has moderate recoil and excellent barrel life, without neccesarily a flat tragectory/ high fps. Finally it should be reloaded cost efectively.
It would seem that the 308 would fit these criteria, but that caliber kicks the hell out of me.
thanks

 

[Erik Cortina]

Get a 7mm-08.

You can load 120 gr. bullets for practice and then load some 140 gr. bullets for hunting when you are ready.

Barrel life is not as much as the 308 but much more than the 243/6mm or even the 6.5's.

I would guess barrel life to be between 2500-3500 rounds, maybe more and with mild recoil and enough energy to kill ethically at those distances.

 

[faraim]

Hello, if you're still interested here's my 2 cents. A few years ago my stepfather developed a shoulder problem and had to stop shooting his .30-06. After a lot of experimentation we decided on a .308 with 150 grain bullets and just enough powder to approximate a very lightly loaded .300 Savage. The recoil was mild enough to allow a lot of practice and he has harvested deer out 300 yards. Good luck with your decision!

 

[NCFrank]

I've had a 6mm Rem and it's a good round using the 100gn on deer and lighter bullets on varmints. Based on your stated desires and without belaboring the issue, I'm going to jump in the corner with Erik for the 7-08.

 

[SS427]

As I was reading the various posts and the OP's additional input I immediately started thinking 7mm-08. Then I see Erik suggested the same thing. The .243 and 6mm Rem are great calibers, but barrel life will be relatively short. I like the .260 Rem as well, but as pointed out barrel life will be less than the 08.

 

[M700]

I'm a 6mm Rem nut case from way back. Dad gave me a brand spanking new 6mm Rem in 1974. My youngest son (20 years old) now hunts with that rifle. Who knows how many varmints & coyotes that thing has zapped? It's dynamite on deer, although I don't think we've ever shot a mulie much over 300 yards with it. Ground squirrels simply evaporate.

Favorite load is the 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip over a stout charge of Reloader 22. That's a great load and a great bullet. Complete penetration on broadside shots on 200 pound mule deer - no problem. Every deer has dropped on the spot, no tracking required.

For varmints I've gone as low as 55 grain bullets, but get better accuracy from the various 75 grain hollow points. For coyotes it just doesn't matter.

Very mild recoil. Flat trajectory. Good in the wind and deadly as sin. Love it.

BTW - the .308 Win is another great cartridge. If it's kicking the snot out of you, it's likely the rifle doesn't fit you well or has a crummy recoil pad. If I could have only one rifle (what a horrible thought) it would be a .308 Win. Re the 6mm Rem vs .243 Win argument - it's been going on for 50 years, they're both good cartridges. There's a great article on the .243 here on the site: http://www.6mmbr.com/243Win.html

Regards, Guy

 

[357Mag]

"Trinity is still my name "-

Howdy !

Please read your PMs.

Regards,
357Mag

 

[nv22br]

My 2 ¢. I have been hunting with a 7-08 for over 20 years and it has taken three species of deer, California wild hog and all kinds of varmints. It's just ant old M700 Mnt rifle with that pencil thin barrel. Yet it can shoot 3 shot half inch groups. It was the main reason my custom barrelled 6 mm Sako collected dust and why that action now has a 22 BR barrel.

 

[wboggs]

If you go with a .308 try the lighter weight Barnes X bullets. They are very effective for deer. Spend a little more and put a muzzle brake on the rifle. you won't wear out a .308 barrel.

ROLL TIDE